Monday, August 26, 2002
U.S. Open looks for magic
By Mike Dodd
USA TODAY
Attendance for professional tennis is climbing every year. Participation and equipment sales are holding steady in a soft economy. TV ratings are a mixed bag but generally positive over the last few years.
So why is tennis still battling this vague notion that it's losing appeal?
As the U.S. Open begins its two-week marathon in New York Monday, tennis searches for the magic combination of personality and rivalry that draws the casual fan to its den.
In the men's game, American contenders are either in the sunset of their careers or the dawn of their potential. The major question in the women's bracket is: Will it be Venus vs. Serena in the final — or Serena vs. Venus?
In the remote-click world of 21st century entertainment, neither scenario is particularly compelling. But by most statistical measures, tennis is bouncing back from its mid-1990s malaise, when participation and interest decreased to the point one national magazine suggested the sport was dying.
“We're one of the few sports today where reality is better than perception,” says Arlen Kantarian, chief executive/professional tennis for the U.S. Tennis Association. “Professional tennis is in the early stages of a resurgence.”
Parity in the men's field is the major factor in the argument that tennis interest is waning.
The second week of the men's event at Wimbledon this year lacked star power for American fans, and NBC's 2.1 rating for the tournament was its lowest in more than a decade. The TV audience for the Williams sisters' doubles final easily outdrew the men's singles final between Australian Lleyton Hewitt and unheralded David Nalbandian of Argentina.
“When people in this country ask about tennis, they're really asking about American tennis,” says legend Billie Jean King, captain of the U.S. women's Federation Cup team. “It depends which country you're in and what year.”
In England during Wimbledon, the BBC posted record ratings as Britain's Tim Henman marched to the semifinals in his quest to become his country's first male champion in 66 years. “British fans were captivated,” says Mark Miles, ATP chief executive officer.
“We need to keep our perspective. We're looking through the lens of America,” adds Andre Agassi, who has won four ATP events this year. “The sport is so international now. We have great players from South America and the Europeans.”
When Americans win, America tunes in. The Venus vs. Serena final at last year's U.S. Open drew a 6.8 prime-time rating on CBS, 42 percent higher than the Notre Dame-Nebraska football game shown opposite it on ABC.
The Open has set attendance records three consecutive years and boasts it is the highest attended annual event in sports, with more than 600,000 fans a year.
Analyzing the myriad of statistics can be like watching a match from center court: You go back and forth, back and forth.
Venus and Serena
The Williams sisters have given the game a huge boost, but they also present a predicament. They've played each other in the championship match in three of the last four majors and even prominent players such as Hewitt suggest the public might soon tire of the family intramurals. Serena defeated Venus in this year's French Open and Wimbledon to claim the No. 1 ranking from her sister.
“They're dominating, all right,” Hewitt said at Wimbledon. “But people may get sick of seeing the two of them play in every Grand Slam final all the time.”
A Williams vs. Williams final, the argument goes, isn't compelling because the public really doesn't care which sister wins. And some of their early head-to-head matches didn't seem to have much competitive fire. Both perceptions could be changing, however.
“Wimbledon showed real promise. There was some real zeal there,” says Kurt Kamperman, president of the Tennis Industry Association (TIA). “They could reach the finals at the Open and go at it like sisters can. Could they be one wisecrack away from having a grudge match? Anybody with two daughters would say, "Absolutely.' ”
The sisters have dominated the majors since Jennifer Capriati won the Australian Open early in the year, but injuries to the USA's Lindsay Davenport and Martina Hingis of Switzerland have thinned the competition. Hingis has traded verbal barbs with the sisters, and her return for the Open could enliven the proceedings.
Those three challengers and Monica Seles join the sisters to make this a golden age in women's tennis. The top four seeds in the Open are American: Serena, Venus, Capriati and Davenport.
“Right now we have the best women in the history of the sport, and they happen to be American,” King says. “From an American point of view, this is the best it has ever been. I can't imagine it ever getting much better.”
The men
The U.S. men's game is in transition, as Agassi and Pete Sampras wind down their championship careers. The deepest either advanced in a major this year was Agassi's quarterfinals loss at the French Open. Both were knocked out in the second round at Wimbledon.
As fans long for the days of Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and Co., the expectations are already huge for the next generation.
“They were asking me the same things they're asking Andy Roddick and James Blake now: Can you take the mantle from Connors?” Agassi says. “Our generation with myself, Sampras, Jim Courier and Michael Chang, we have, what 25-30 Grand Slams, No. 1 in the world for an entire decade? That's a tough standard to keep up.”
Parity in football might be great, but it is poison in a sport driven by celebrity, personality and rivalry. The men's game is suffering an epidemic of it: Thirty-one players have won ATP events around the world this season.
Then again, those who complain about the Williams' dominance should love the men's bracket.
“I find it intriguing that in any match on any given day in men's professional tennis you can have an unexpected outcome,” Roddick says. “You can walk out and see Andre play a guy (ranked) 80-85 in the world and (Agassi) could lose. I find that fun to watch, kind of like the NCAAs, watching someone get upset.”
King says fans shouldn't overreact to the idea American women are now vastly superior internationally to their male countrymen. “Everyone gets their knickers in a twist over this. It goes in cycles,” she says.
The fans
McEnroe, in his memoir, “You Cannot Be Serious”, makes 10 recommendations for tennis. They include a return to wooden rackets at the pro level, a nine-month season instead of the current year-round grind and moving the service line closer to the net to de-emphasize the serve.
Not everyone's ideas are as radical, but making the game more fan-friendly is a constant theme.
“Access is the most important word. In World TeamTennis, teams stand on the court to sign autographs and talk to kids (after matches). ... It's access to the audience,” co-founder King says.
Others believe the men's five-set marathons in Grand Slams are too long, particularly for television, and should be replaced by best-of-three matches.
“I think that is the future. The purists don't like that, but the days are coming,” says Miles. He says the ATP also is exploring the idea of round-robin tournaments. It would ensure fans get to see the top stars for at least a few matches. After a few rounds, the players with the best records would advance to a single-elimination format.
Roddick liked the “Rock 'n' Roll” initiative that included music as players entered the court. But Miles says reaction was mixed, and the decision to continue is left up to each local tournament. “Fans in Europe see (tennis) as sort of a combination of sport and opera,” he says. “It got a very bad reception.”
Nick Bollettieri, whose Bradenton, Fla., tennis academy has helped develop several top pros, says instilling “a little juice” in the game is a good idea. “I think tennis has got to become an event, not just a tournament.”
For several years, purists complained that power serves had taken over and destroyed the balance of the game. But the new high-tech rackets have brought back the baseline game.
“I still get this comment from people all the time, "How come men's tennis is so boring? It's all about serving,' ” says Patrick McEnroe, the U.S. men's Davis Cup captain. “It's completely the opposite.”
King says, “With the newer rackets, because you can hit so hard, (players) can stand on the baseline and actually hit a winner against a player standing on the other baseline.” And when you charge the net and hit the ball deep, she adds, your opponent can generate the power to hit a successful passing shot.
Shadow of the Tiger
Tennis officials don't like the parallel, but the sport is often compared with golf, which is riding the tail of the Tiger to new heights in popularity. And that might be tennis' biggest problem of perception: no Tiger Woods. Yet.
Can the Williams sisters have the same impact that Woods has? Some say it's already happening.
“Tennis now has two Tiger Woods,” Kantarian says. “Win or lose, hate them or love them, the Williamses have helped create a new tidal wave of interest in the sport.
“Everybody loves a winner and loves shooting for a winner. And I think we've got in this sport what golf has in Tiger, baseball has in the Yankees and basketball in the Lakers.”
Kantarian says a consistent TV package is the hallmark of any strong sport, and tennis is building that. The USTA just signed a six-year deal with USA Network for live coverage of summer events leading up to the Open. The goal for most weekends between Wimbledon and the Open is to show a women's final Saturday and a men's final Sunday.
The Tennis Channel, a cable outlet devoted full time to the sport, also will help when it makes its debut later this year.
Bollettieri says several stars-in-the-making are in the developmental pipeline, so the U.S. prospects should be strong in the future. USTA programs such as “Tennis in a Can,” which helps high school teachers learn to coach the game, are valuable. Just as important, adults are playing again, he says. “If adults play, kids will play,” he says. “Don't put all the emphasis on champions. Champions will be the result of more people playing.”
For all the angst, a strong showing from Agassi during the next two weeks or a last hurrah from Sampras could provide a story line that would fill the sports pages and fuel the ratings again. That would do - until the next great rivalry comes along.
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(— Contributing: Jon Saraceno and Tom Clark of USA TODAY, wire reports)
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